Gators Ride Strong Second Half to 93-62 Victory over Becker

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Pine Manor College women’s basketball outscored Becker College 58-32 in the second half to take a 93-62 victory over the visiting Hawks on Monday night at Brunelli Court. With the win, the Gators improve to 18-3 overall and have tied the 1984-85 Gators for the second-highest win total in program history—trailing only the 20-win Gators of PMC’s inaugural season of women’s basketball in 1983-84.

Ari DeJesus (Providence, R.I.) scored a game-high 24 points for Pine Manor, also grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds to record a double-double. DeJesus finished as one of three Gators with at least 20 points, as classmate Alexis Lee (Akron, Ohio) added 23 and junior Natasia Franklin (Windsor, Conn.) scored 20. Freshman Jayva Johnson (West Haven, Conn.) finished as the only other Gator in double-figures, recording a double-double of her own with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Jacqueline Chila (Monroe, Conn.) scored a team-high 22 points for Becker, shooting an astonishing 11-11 from the field while grabbing seven rebounds. Tatiana Mojica (Worcester, Mass.) and Diana Farmer (North Brookfield, Mass.) also finished in double-figures for the Hawks, with Mojica scoring 16 points and Farmer adding 11. Farmer was also perfect form the floor, going 4-4 from the field and 3-3 from the free throw line for the Hawks, who fall to 9-14 overall.

Neither team led by more than five points in the first half with a total of eight lead changes and five ties taking place. A three-pointer from Johnson and a layup from Franklin on consecutive possessions helped the Gators take the lead, at 29-28, as part of a 9-2 run to close out the first. PMC five-point halftime advantage, at 35-30, was the largest lead of the first half for either side..

The Gators wasted little time adding to their advantage in the second half. With DeJesus scoring 17 of her game-high 24 points after the break, Pine Manor raced out to a double-digit lead less than five minutes after halftime.

The Gator advantage would grow to as many as 38 points in the closing minutes of the game before Pine Manor would take the 93-62 victory.

Becker will look to bounce back when they host Elms in their final regular-season home finale on Wednesday evening. Pine Manor will also be back in action on Wednesday evening when they take on Fisher at 5:30 PM in Lynn, Mass. The Gators defeated the Falcons 90-49 in the first matchup between the two teams this season.